On January 13, 2011, Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) published that the Eastern Magistracy today found Chan Wing Fai not guilty of false trading in two stocks that took place in 2009. Chan faced eight charges that he intended that or was reckless as to whether his trading had the effect of creating a false or misleading appearance with respect to the price for dealings in the securities of Sonavox International Holdings Limited (Sonavox) and PacMOS Technologies Holdings Limited (PacMOS), contrary to section 295 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance.

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On January 12, 2011, Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) published that the commission has suspended the licence of Mr Andy Lui Hing Yip for nine months from 12 January 2012 to 11 October 2012 for knowing or turning a blind eye to unlicensed activities involving staff under his supervision (Note 1). The SFC investigation found that, between 2005 and 2009, while Lui was the branch manager of CITIC Securities Brokerage (HK) Limited in Wanchai, Ms Lee Chi Ying entered into arrangements with two staff members under Lui’s supervision to carry on unlicensed activities with a number of the brokerage firm’s clients. The staff members have been disciplined by the SFC and Lee was prosecuted and convicted for carrying out unlicensed activities (Note 2).

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On January 12, 2011, Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) published that the commission has reprimanded Mr Yip Kim Fung, formerly a licensed representative of Fulbright Securities Limited (FSL), and fined him $50,000 (Note 1). The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation which found that Yip had: failed to properly record and confirm clients’ order instructions through FSL’s telephone recording system; and failed to act with due care and diligence in handling client instructions in that on several occasions he mistakenly placed orders to trade stock for one client in another client’s account.

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On January 10, 2011 Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) published that the commission has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from former Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFPL) employee, Simon Langton, after he failed to meet various obligations as a financial adviser. The EU follows an investigation into the advice provided by several of CFPL’s financial advisers. CFPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and operates under the advice structure of Colonial First State, which is also part of the CBA.

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On December 22, 2011 Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) published that the commission accepted enforceable undertakings (EUs) from three financial advisers formerly employed by Storm Financial Ltd. The three financial advisers are Ms Carey Fraser of North Ward, Queensland, Mr Trevor Alan Benson of Aspley, Queensland and Mr David Robert McCulloch of Mount Louisa, Queensland. The EUs were offered following ASIC’s concern and subsequent investigation that in advising clients to adopt the Storm model of investment, Ms Fraser, Mr Benson and Mr McCulloch only advised clients to invest in accordance with the Storm model of investment and without considering whether any other strategy would meet their needs. ASIC was also concerned that their advice involved the implementation of a gearing strategy and they failed to advise clients that the advice provided to them was not necessarily appropriate or tailored to meet their financial goals and objectives.

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On December 30, 2011 British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) published that panel has fined and permanently banned a former mutual fund salesperson from B.C.’s capital markets for defrauding an Alberta resident out of $11,050 after meeting her on the internet. In its decision, the panel found that Ajit Singh Basi, a 24-year-old B.C. resident, broke securities laws and perpetrated a fraud when he advised a woman he met on the internet that he could purchase shares in a company at a discounted price. After months of correspondence, he instructed the woman to deposit $15,500 into his bank account. Basi then used $11,050 of the woman’s money for personal use, such as settling outstanding debts. The woman subsequently recovered only $4,450 after complaining to Basi’s bank about the investment.

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On December 30, 2011 British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) published that panel has permanently banned four individuals and the purported company they claimed to represent for proposing to execute trades on behalf of B.C. residents in exchange for payment as part of an advance-fee scheme. In its decision, the panel described the conduct of James Dupree, Ian T. Ball, Stephen Armitage and Peter B. Thompson as “dishonest and predatory”, and found that the four men broke securities laws when they telephoned two B.C. residents and proposed a scheme to acquire Apple stocks at a discount in exchange for an “advanced” payment of $9,000. The panel also stated that the four men’s misconduct “damages the integrity and reputation of our markets.”

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On December 22, 2011 British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) published that the panel has found that two B.C. residents and two companies broke securities laws when they raised money from Canadian and U.S. investors. The panel found that Daniel Scammell, Casper de Beer (aka Casha de Beer), Verified Transactions Corp. and VerifySmart Corp. traded in securities without being registered in B.C., and distributed those securities without filing a prospectus.

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On December 21, 2011 British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) published that the panel has found that a Richmond, B.C. man broke securities laws when he sold securities for a U.S. company. Donald Verne Dyer raised money for Global 8 Environmental Technologies Inc. through Pacific Ocean Resources Corporation, a Langley-based company that Dyer owns. Dyer is in the business of raising money for public companies, though neither Dyer nor his company are registered to sell securities in B.C.

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On December 09, 2011 British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) published that the as part of a settlement agreement in an illegal insider trading case, a B.C. man has agreed to pay $79,429 to the Commission.The agreement states that Jerome John Rak, a resident of West Vancouver, breached securities laws when he purchased securities in Velo Energy Inc, an Alberta company that was planning to hire a new president and CEO. Rak had advanced knowledge of Velo’s plan to hire Arthur Millholland, the former president and CEO of Oilexco Inc, when he purchased 172,000 shares in the company.

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On December 20, 2011 Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) published that Ms Elisa Rietbergen, 38, of Kensington, NSW, formerly a Relationship Services Associate with JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A., and Mr Joseph Levi, 39, of Surry Hills, NSW, today each pleaded guilty in the Downing Centre Local Court to an insider trading charge. The charges, brought by ASIC, relate to inside information concerning the acquisition of Valad Property Group (Valad) by affiliates of the Blackstone Group L.P. announced on the Australian Securities Exchange on 29 April 2011.

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On December 19, 2011 Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) published that commission has cancelled the credit licence of Melbourne-based Star Alliance Financial Services Pty Ltd and banned its director following an investigation. Mr Prasanna Indrajith Wijesekara, of South Morang, Victoria was permanently banned from engaging in credit activities following concerns over his conduct as a mortgage broker in 2010 and certain statements made in his company’s credit licence application.

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On December 19, 2011 Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) published that former liquidator, Stuart Ariff, has today been jailed for six years following his conviction on 19 criminal charges brought by ASIC. Mr Ariff, who was found guilty by a New South Wales District Court jury on 26 September 2011, will be eligible for parole on 25 March 2015. ASIC Deputy Chairman Belinda Gibson, said, ‘ASIC’s decision to pursue criminal charges against Mr Ariff is a clear demonstration of our commitment to deterring misconduct by gatekeepers including insolvency practitioners.’

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On December 15, 2011, Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) published that the Eastern Magistracy today convicted Mr Lo Kam Chung of carrying on a business of advising on securities when he was not licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission to do so (Note 1). Lo, who pleaded guilty, was fined $20,000 and given a community service order of 80 hours to be completed within 12 months. Lo was also ordered to pay the SFC’s investigation costs. The court found that between April and November 2010, Lo, upon subscription, gave securities advice in the name of “Peter Sun” to paid subscribers to a private discussion group he had set up in Facebook.

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On December 13, 2011 Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) published that the former Gunns Limited chairman, John Eugene Gay appeared in the Court of Petty Sessions in Launceston today charged with two counts of insider trading, following an ASIC investigation. The matter was adjourned until 14 February 2012. Mr Gay will be required to enter a plea at this time. Mr Gay was a director of Gunns Limited from 1980 to 2010 and was chairman of Gunns Limited from 2002 to 2010.

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